Posted on: February 06, 2024 11:30 AM

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70 current and former NYCHA employees charged with bribery and extortion offenses

Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General; Jocelyn E. Strauber, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation; Ivan J. Arvelo, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations; Rae Oliver Davis, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General; and Jonathan Mellone, the Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, announced the unsealing of bribery and extortion charges against 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority. 66 of the 70 defendants were arrested this morning in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and North Carolina. 

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “The Justice Department will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who abuse their positions in public service in order to enrich themselves.  The crimes alleged in this case are serious violations of the public trust, and I am grateful to the agents and our partners across government who worked on this case, and to the prosecutors in the Southern District of New York for their tireless efforts to root out corruption.” 

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said: “As charged, these 70 current and former NYCHA supervisors and other staff used their positions of public trust and responsibility to pocket bribes in exchange for doling out no-bid contracts.  The extensive bribery and extortion alleged here calls for significant reforms to NYCHA’s no-bid contracting process, which DOI has recommended and NYCHA has accepted.  I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and our federal law enforcement partners for their commitment to protect scarce public resources intended to maintain public housing, and to hold accountable public servants who abuse their authority, and NYCHA’s senior leadership for its cooperation in this important investigation.”

HSI Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo said: “These 70 defendants are accused of demanding kickbacks and bribes for access to no-bid contracts and lucrative, under-the-table deals.  Make no mistake, this alleged pervasive corruption had the biggest impact on NYCHA residents themselves, who may have been cheated out of better services and programs.  I commend the outstanding work of HSI New York’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force for today’s historic operation.  As one of the largest investigative agencies, the public can rest assured: Homeland Security Investigations will pursue all avenues of justice for the people of this great city.”

HUD OIG Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis said: “The pay-to-play bribery schemes alleged in the complaints unsealed today waste millions of dollars and risk residents staying in unacceptable living conditions.  The alleged conduct identified during this investigation harms the effectiveness of housing programs that support more than 200,000 residents.  It also poses a significant risk to the integrity of the HUD rental assistance programs that support housing assistance in New York City and erodes the trust of NYCHA residents in HUD’s programs.  We will continue our work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners to prevent and detect these and other schemes.'

NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in the country, providing housing to 1 in 17 New Yorkers in 335 developments across the City and receiving over $1.5 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every year.  When repairs or construction work require the use of outside contractors, services must typically be purchased via a bidding process.  However, at all times relevant to the Complaints, when the value of a contract was under a certain threshold (up to $10,000), designated staff at NYCHA developments could hire a contractor of their choosing without soliciting multiple bids.  This “no-bid” process was faster than the general NYCHA procurement process, and selection of the contractor required approval of only the designated staff at the development where the work was to be performed. 

The defendants, all of whom were NYCHA employees during the time of the relevant conduct, demanded and received cash in exchange for NYCHA contracts by either requiring contractors to pay up front in order to be awarded the contracts or requiring payment after the contractor finished the work and needed a NYCHA employee to sign off on the completed job so the contractor could receive payment from NYCHA. As alleged, the defendants typically demanded approximately 10% to 20% of the contract value—between $500 and $2,000 depending on the size of the contract—but some defendants demanded even higher amounts.  In total, these defendants demanded over $2 million in corrupt payments from contractors in exchange for awarding over $13 million worth of no-bid contracts. 
The names of the defendants:
James Baez, 58 years,  Valley Stream, NY
Selwyn Barley, 61 years, Brooklyn, NY
Gwendolyn Bell, 38 years, Baldwin, NY
Nymiah Branch, 44 years, Elmont, NY
Marc Buckner, 54 years, Stroudsburg, PA
Patrick Butler, 58 years, Brooklyn, NY
Roberto Cartagena, 48 years, Union City, NJ
Vernon Chambers, 45 years, Brooklyn, NY
Rigoberto Charriez, a/k/a “Ricky”, 34 years, Toms River, NJ
Hector Colon, 45 years, Bronx, NY
Craig Copney, 55 years, Brooklyn, NY
Michael Davis, 54 years, Groton, CT
Victor De Los Santos, 54 years, Bushkill, PA
Mauricio Escobar, 55 years, East Elmhurst, NY
Jose Espinal, 57 years, Howard Beach, NY
Joseph Fuller, 42 years, Brooklyn, NY
Manuel Garcia, 59 years, Lecanto, FL
Tuesdai Gaskin, 57 years, Staten Island, NY
Corey Gilmore, 45 years, Garnerville, NY
Lateisha Harley, 48 years, Bronx, NY
Joy Harris, 48 years, Bushkill, PA
Jose Hernandez, 57 years, New York, NY
Veronica Hollman, 47 years, Brooklyn, NY
Deshon Hopkins, 47 years, Bethlehem, PA
Nena Huntley, 36 years, Bronx, NY
Michael Johnson, 58 years, Staten Island, NY
George Kemp, 49 years, Irvington, NJ
Jaime Lan, a/k/a “Jimmy”, 57 years, Stewartsville, NJ
Dexter Lino, 51 years, Rockaway Park, NY
Nirmal Lorick, 58 years, South Richmond Hill, NY
Tara Lucas, 50 years, Linden, NJ
Vincent Machado, a/k/a Vincent Arcelay, 30 years, New York, NY
Marlon Mackey, 51 years, Jamaica, NY
Danny Matos, 48 years, Effort, PA
Nakia McCoy, 49 years, Brooklyn, NY
Erik McCreary, 55 years, Far Rockaway, NY
Henry McPhatter, 44 years, Bronx, NY
Joacim Mendez, 47 years, Milford, CT
Juan Mendez, 52 years, Stroudsburg, PA
Juan Mercado, 49 years, West Babylon, NY
James Miller, 55 years, Stroudsburg, PA
Daniel Muniz, 64 years, Long Island City, NY
Denise Newby-Bovian, 54 years, New York, NY
Alexis Nieves, 41 years, Stratford, CT
Raymond Nunez, 56 years, Glendale, NY
Evelyn Ortiz, 55 years, Freeport, NY
Brett Owens, 49 years, New York, NY
Orlando Pardo, 56 years, Maywood, NJ
Jorge Perez, 54 years, Bronx, NY
Curtis Priester, 58 years, Bronx, NY
Eddie Quetell, 57 years, Philadelphia, PA
Carmen Rivera, 53 years, Long Pond, PA
Jaime Rivera, 50 years, Bronx, NY
John Rivera, 56 years, Bronx, NY
Herbert Rosa, 45 years, New York, NY
Dwarka Rupnarain, 63 years, Middletown, NJ
Chrisie Salter, 46 years, Brooklyn, NY
Clarence Samuel, 53 years, Irvington, NJ
Tanisha Sands, 51 years, Brooklyn, NY
Carolyn Scott, 58 years, East Stroudsburg, PA
Garth Small, 55 years, Mount Vernon, NY
Charles Starks, 57 years, Elmont, NY
Elizabeth Tapia, 54 years, Pocono Summit, PA
Alex Tolozano, 57 years, Maywood, NJ
Luis Torres, 38 years, Bronx, NY
Segundo Torres, 56 years, Blakeslee, PA
Frankie Villanueva, 51 years, Bronx, NY
Clarence Samuel, 53 years, Irvington, NJ
Tanisha Sands, 51 years, Brooklyn, NY
Carolyn Scott, 58 years, East Stroudsburg, PA
Garth Small, 55 years, Mount Vernon, NY
Charles Starks, 57 years, Elmont, NY
Elizabeth Tapia, 54 years, Pocono Summit, PA
Alex Tolozano, 57 years, Maywood, NJ
Luis Torres, 38 years, Bronx, NY
Segundo Torres, 56 years, Blakeslee, PA
Frankie Villanueva, 51 years, Bronx, NY
Lindsay Wade, 53 years, Brooklyn, NY
Angela Williams, 64 years, Fayetteville, NC
Willie Williams, 60 years, Staten Island, NY
Calvin Wright, 52, Brooklyn, NY